


two hearts as one

by sureimiku



Category: Tales of Graces
Genre: Drabbles, everyone is happy, graces week 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:35:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21733882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sureimiku/pseuds/sureimiku
Summary: Several drabbles centering around the Graces cast, written for Graces Week!
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. asbel, loyalty

**Author's Note:**

> hi this is my first time writing graces, I was contemplating on whether or not I should join graces week but I’m glad I did! I actually finished the game a few weeks ago I’m so glad I finished in time so I could partake in this week :) happy anniversary graces!

“I am your sword, Richard. Use me as you will.”

Asbel remembers those words clearly as he promised the king that he’d be there for him no matter what. Under the night sky of scattered stars, he swore to always be by his side. 

Yet here he is in the depths of the Ghardia Shaft, about to face the same king he called his best friend. He doesn’t want to fight Richard—no one does, really, but their world is on the brink of destruction and he’s the cause. 

“Richard, don’t you understand what you’re trying to do?!” Asbel yells, staring at the form his friend has taken. He looks nothing like the Richard he knew; full of darkness with no hope of trying to get him to stop. 

“Of course I do. Lambda and I are as one now. We share the same goals. This world has made us miserable and treated us unkindly, but we can recreate it. Do you know the source of that misery? It’s _humans.”_

“You would wipe out everyone on this planet just to achieve your goals? You don’t have to do this!”

“If you’re going to get in our way, you’re just going to have to die by our own hand.”

The next few minutes fly by in a whirl, Asbel screaming Richard’s name over and over, hoping he isn’t dead. The next thing he knows, he’s freeing him from Lambda’s grasp and protecting him from any other harm. The battle commences again, this time Asbel fighting for his life _and_ Richard’s. When they do defeat Lambda, Asbel decides to confront him and persuade him out of his ideals. He wants to see just the kind of person he is, how he managed to corrupt the entirety of Richard and nearly bring destruction to all. 

Asbel discovers that Lambda is just lonely, that he’s gone through so much already. Lambda threatens to take over him countless times but Asbel’s heart is able to overpower his darkness.

No one was expecting him to reappear with one blue eye and one purple, but with that their world was finally freed from destruction. 

Months later restoration is brought all over Lhant, Cheria working with a relief organization and everyone else back to their original homes. Asbel gains the Lord of Lhant title at long last and the king finally returns to his rightful position. 

“Do you remember when we came here months ago?” Richard asks Asbel as they stand in front of the Barona castle. “Why did you help me in the end, even though I almost killed you all so many times?”

“It wasn’t your fault, Richard. I knew this from the first time you attacked us at Lhant. I know you wouldn’t do such a thing to hurt us.”

“Asbel...you held onto your promise…”

“Of course I did. You’re one of my closest friends.” 

Richard smiles at him, looking up at the dark blue sky full of stars. “If you ever go down a dark path, I promise I’ll be there to save you as you did for me.”

Asbel smiles back at him, gazing at the sky with him. “Thank you.”


	2. sophie, growth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sophie worries about what the future will bring her. Luckily, Cheria knows just the thing to cheer her up.

Growing up is something Sophie feared greatly, not because she couldn't get old but because everyone else around her would. She disliked the thought of watching her loved ones leaving her behind on Ephinea; Cheria, Richard, Hubert and everyone else. Most importantly, she couldn’t bear the thought of Asbel not being around anymore. 

“Why do you look so down, Sophie?”

She didn’t realize the pink-haired girl crouching next to her and looking at the sopherias in the flower bed. “Oh, the flowers are wilting…”

  
“Cheria, will you leave me behind one day?” 

She paused before answering. “I’ll grow old one day, and so will everyone else...we can’t avoid it.” Cheria smiled sadly at the purple-haired girl before continuing. “But that day won’t be anytime soon. We just have to make sure we enjoy what time we have left. And I think I know just the thing to take care of that.

She took Sophie’s hand and led them to the shopping plaza. “We’re going to look for something nice for you to wear.” 

  
“For what?”

  
“Nothing, I just thought a new accessory or clothes would cheer you up.” She smiled at Sophie and they started browsing the available stores. One of the shirts on display had King Richard on it, which Sophie took an interest in, but Cheria insisted that they had enough things with Richard’s face on it. 

  
“How about this?” Sophie held up a pair of flower barrettes with petals shaped like a sopheria’s. She attached it to her pigtails and waited for Cheria’s approval.   
“It looks lovely!” She glowed, walking over to fix the barrettes. “This one’s a little crooked, let me just fix it for you…” 

  
The rest of the day the two of them walked around the plaza and chattered about various topics—crablettes, which Sophie requested for dinner, Asbel’s hard work in Lhant recently, and what Hubert and the other were up to. Thinking about the others made her a bit sad since she hadn’t seen them in a long time. Ever since Richard returned to normal and Lambda was dealt with, things were quiet like when they were children. 

  
“We can plan a day for everyone to meet up, if you’d like,” Cheria brought up as they returned to the manor. “I think that would cheer us all up from our own problems.”

  
Sophie nodded and looked up at the night sky. “I think that would be a wonderful idea. Maybe we can all meet at Lhant hill at night-time!"

"That does sound fun. Now let’s go have some crablettes with Asbel.”

Time passed and Sophie made even more memories with her friends. Whether it was Malik teasing Asbel and Cheria, Hubert scolding Pascal or hanging out with Richard in their secret hideout, they all found a special place in Sophie’s heart. The fear of losing them diminished as Sophie finally realized it was important to cherish what time you have left. 

Now that she had Asbel and Cheria’s great-grandson to watch over, she was sure to tell him all the wonderful stories she had with her friends.   
“What’s in your hair?” The young boy asked as they sat in the middle of the meadow. 

Sophie smiled and gently grazed over the two shiny barrettes in her hair. “One of my most cherished memories.”


	3. hubert, diligence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hubert ought to teach his brother about being an organized leader, starting with his messy desk and handwriting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one is a little shorter than the others, I love hubert though he is a very good boy :)

“You need to work more on making your handwriting more presentable, Hubert said furiously as he held up the papers lying around on his brother’s desk. “I can’t even read what this says.” 

Asbel looked at the paper he was holding and frowned. “Hey, I was looking for that paper for ages! Where was it?”

 _“Under everything else.”_ The younger brother’s voice was growing annoyed and he was seriously going to lecture his Asbel about properly maintaining his work area. On his desk were resource plans, townspeople's requests, and various letters from all over Windor. “You ought to keep your desk clear. How do you expect to be an organized leader if you can’t even locate your documents at any given time?”

“I’m not the most organized person. I put my things wherever I see fit and usually come across them by chance.”

“...And then when you don’t find them, you come running to me or Cheria for help.” Hubert gave his brother back the paper he was holding and adjusted his glasses. “If you’re going to be neater, at least start with your own writing. Do you think Richard would be able to read this? He writes such beautiful _cursive._ ”

“Ok, ok, I get it. I'll try to make my writing cleaner. He sat back down in his chair, pushing the scattered papers into one big pile. “Guess I should get these out of the way first.” 

Hubert sighed, pulling another chair out and seating himself across from Asbel. “If you were to do this yourself you’d make a bigger mess. 

_That’s just your excuse to help me out,_ Asbel thought. “Thank you, Hubert.”

It was true that the several years they apart from each other weakened their relationship, but in the end, Hubert was still the same kind person who cared for his brother. Clumsy as Asbel was, someone needed to be there to put him back on his feet if he ever fell. 

He was sure that, with time, his brother would be the best leader Lhant ever had.


	4. cheria, compassion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even in dark times, Cheria’s big heart was all people needed to move on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi I love Cheria so much..my favorite graces girl...she’s such a sweetheart and I love writing about her :’)

Cheria’s heart was so big that even though her journey with everyone was complete, she decided to join a relief organization to help those in need. She could have returned home to see everyone and to relax at long last, but her kind self knew it was important to help anyone affected by Lambda’s remaining monsters in the area.   
  
Cheria’s eyes darted around the field searching for anyone who needed healing when suddenly she heard the sound of someone crying behind a tree. It was a young boy, probably no younger than ten, clutching his knee and trying to stifle his tears. Cheria ran over to him and knelt to his eye level, checking how bad his knee was. It wasn’t the most severe one she’d seen all day, but it was still a pretty deep injury.  
  
“Stay still, I’m going to fix your bruise right up,” she assured the young child as she focused her healing arte on his knee. He watched with tearful eyes as light came from her hands and closed up his wound. When she moved her hands away, his knee was good as new.   
  
“Th-thank you,” the child responded between sniffles. He reached out to give Cheria a hug, which surprised her but she happily returned it.   
  
“It was my pleasure.” She smiled sweetly at him as he ran off to join his family. Relief work was rewarding in the end, being able to see loved ones reunite with each other after such devastating times.   
  
“You’ve been working hard lately.” A familiar voice came behind her and almost sent her jumping.   
  
“Asbel? What are you doing here? Don’t you have work to do in Lhant?”  
  
“I wanted to see how things were going here. Everyone has been such a tremendous help, I think the townspeople are finally getting back up on their own feet thanks to you guys.”  
  
Cheria’s cheeks blushed slightly as she took a look around the area. Almost everyone was fixed up and ready to go back to their homes. Thankfully there were no severe injuries at the end or even deaths; Cheria didn’t know how her heart would carry the burden of that.   
  
“I do miss home, you and Sophie the most, but I feel that for now, my heart belongs to helping these people. When the time comes, I’d love for all of us to sit down and just unwind.”  
  
Asbel chuckled at that. “For sure, work in Lhant has been so tiresome lately. But we’re both trying our best to restore things to normal and that’s what’s most important.” He put his hand on her shoulder and said his goodbyes as he went to check on the other organization members.   
  
Although it was getting late, she made sure everyone was taken care of before departing. It was true that she was usually the last to leave the organization every day, but her heart guided her to go the extra step to help people—supplying extra bandages, casting an extra arte or two to ensure any injuries were gone.  
  
And that was what made Cheria one of the kindest women anyone knew.


	5. malik, guidance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Malik guides Hubert through his troubles concerning love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> posting this a day late... I love Malik but I wasn't sure what to write, so the first thing I thought of was him trying to help Hubert with his love problems. the scene in Yu Liberte with all the boys was so funny and it drew inspiration for this haha

It was late at night when Malik found Hubert standing outside, looking confused and lost. The Amarcian Enclave was quiet at night and everyone was fast asleep. The captain joined his companion and asked him a question that nearly sent him jumping:

“You’re thinking of Pascal?”

“Wh-what?! No, how could you possibly come up with that?” 

“You seemed to be lost in thought all day. Everyone noticed it but didn’t know what was wrong, except for me."

Hubert averted his eyes to the ground, unable to find a response. It was hard to hide things from the captain so he finally admitted to his feelings. “I don’t know why I’ve been so drawn to her lately. She may be an airhead but she’s so smart at the same time. Part of me feels like I should watch over her, but I’m not sure…”

“Just confess to her then,” Malik said bluntly.

Hubert looked at him sadly, “Everyone is expecting me to marry the President’s daughter already. But honestly, I don’t want to. If I did, it’s true that we would be well-respected by hundreds already, but something— _someone_ is holding me back from that. And I’m sure you’ve known that is for quite some time now.”

Malik nodded at him, looking up at the sky. “I think you should just go for it. You never know what could happen to her, she might find someone else before you can change your mind.”

“You don’t think that could actually happen, right?”

The blond-haired man grinned. “Maybe.”

“Captain!”

“Joking, joking. But you absolutely should tell her your true feelings. Let out all you’ve felt for her for the past few weeks.” He pat on the shoulder. “If you ever need more advice or just want to talk about things, I’ll be here for you. I know your brother can be clueless about this sort of topic.”

That finally earned a laugh from the lieutenant. “Thank you, captain. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” With that he set off for the inn, leaving Malik alone in the darkened town. It was true he couldn’t change his past of relationships, but all he could do now was support his growing companions the best he could. 


	6. pascal, exuberance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pascal lightens the party up with a snowball fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pascal pascal pascal...another one of my favorites, she’s so outgoing and her scenes make me laugh so much. since it’s winter time I thought I’d make this drabble winter themed, and since there’s snow outside the enclave it works perfectly :)

“Incoming!” A voice rang out, snowballs hurling from their hands. 

“What in the wor—“ 

Hubert was cut off by a ball smashing his face, sending him tumbling down. Pascal erupted in laughter, followed by Asbel giggling behind her. 

“Would you two like to explain what’s so funny about throwing snowballs at me?”

“You should’ve seen your face Lil Bro, you looked like a walking snowman!” That made Asbel laugh even harder and left an even angrier Hubert. “So you’re proposing a snowball fight.” He started forming a ball in his hands and took a stance to throw it back, only to be hit again. 

“You gotta be quicker than that if you wanna win!” Pascal shouted cheerfully, receiving a snowball Asbel made for her. 

“That’s not fair! He’s making them _for you!_ ” He launched another ball at her, actually landing on her clothes. 

“Nice, you got one! But don’t think it’s over yet.” The three of them continued their fight for so long that they lost track of time. Cheria had to interrupt their game so they could come in for dinner. 

“Next time we play, I would prefer a heads up before we start,” the lieutenant grumbled as he brushed the snow off his uniform. “And equal teams, please.”

“Gotcha.” Pascal put her arms behind her back and looked at the space where their fight commenced. “You know, we should have these kinds of things more often. All of us, I mean. I think a 3 on 3 snowball fight would be pretty awesome. Although there’s seven of us, we’ll figure that out when the time comes."

“That game did clear my head up a lot,” Asbel agreed. “Things have been not too great lately, but who knew a snowball fight would cheer us up?”

“I suppose you’re right.” Hubert smiled at both of them and ushered them to hurry inside the inn. 

Pascal may be the biggest airhead of the party, but at least she knew how to put everyone in the best of spirits. 


	7. richard, redemption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s been five years since Ephinea was saved from destruction; Richard was prepared to celebrate with his people, but what he wasn’t expecting was his beloved friends joining him after so long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RICHAAARD I love Richard so much... he’s my favorite graces character!! I love how strong he is, how he was able to redeem himself after the destruction he caused and bring himself to face his friends once again. this was probably my favorite chapter out of all seven (along with sophie’s)  
> I had so much fun writing this and with this chapter, graces week is over and this fic is complete! my first time writing graces actually turned out so well. thank you for reading I hope you enjoyed this series of drabbles :)

“Are you sure this outfit isn’t too much?” Richard asked, pulling at the emerald-colored sleeves of his shirt. “I was ready to go out with my normal royal cloak, but Cheria insisted I wore this…”

“You look fine Richard,” Asbel assured him. He was wearing a similar outfit as him, flowers embroidered along his cape. “Cheria will be thrilled once she sees you in it.”

The two of them exited the king’s room and head towards the palace entrance, where they were expecting Cheria and Sophie. What Richard was not expecting was Hubert, Malik and Pascal standing there with them, all 5 of them donning similar outfits. 

“Surprise!” Sophie sang, running up to Richard and hugging him. 

“I don’t understand...how did you all manage to come here? Everyone looks amazing...”

“It’s been five years since we saved this world from destruction, how could we not come and celebrate?” Malik said. “And you look great yourself, _your highness._ ” 

“Yes, it would be a shame for us to not reunite for such an important day. It’s thanks to us that we’re able to live in peace again.” Hubert strode up to the front of the group, removing his blue hat. “Though I wasn’t entirely expecting us to all be matching.”

“It was Sophie’s idea.” Cheria ran her fingers across the sopheria brooch on her blouse. “The sopherias are in full bloom right now, and those flowers are what united us after all. 

Pascal was the last of the group to speak up. “It’s wonderful to see you guys again, so how about we go and party inside? I’m just about ready to feast on some delicious food.” 

Richard didn’t know how to respond to anyone; it had been forever since they’d last seen each other and they came and surprised him on their anniversary. He was used to making an appearance in the castle for a bit, talking to some of his closest allies and then retiring for the night, but tonight was different. 

“Why are you crying, Richard?” The purple-haired girl asked, watching a few tears escape his eyes. 

“A-ah, I just wasn’t expecting you guys to come out here…I don’t know what I did to deserve this. I nearly destroyed this world and even you guys—“

“You’re _still_ thinking about that?” Asbel said, lightly slapping the king’s shoulder. “You’ve been forgiven for that— for quite some time now. You’ve proven to your people that you’ve changed for the better and made Windor a better place in just five years. There’s no need for you to carry that burden anymore.” The six of them smiled at Richard, ushering him to enter the castle. “Come on, we’ve got a celebration to attend, and the heroes have yet to make an appearance.” 

Richard wiped the tears off his face and put on one of the biggest smiles they’d ever seen. “Thank you, everyone. Let’s make this night memorable.” 

And so the seven of them made their way to the castle to celebrate—not just their saving of the world, but of their close and unbreakable friendship with each other. 


End file.
